A Parent's Guide to Compass

A Parent's Guide to Compass

Overview
The Compass Parent Portal is an integrated, online portal for you to access up-to-date and
meaningful information about our school and your child's progress. Compass includes many
different features, including the ability to:

        ●   ​Monitor your child's attendance, and enter an explanation for absence or lateness
        ●   Communicate with your child's teachers
        ●   Update your family contact information
        ●   View your child's timetable and the school calendar
        ●   Monitor your child's homework and assessment tasks
        ●   Download and view your child's Semester Reports and Progress Reports
        ●   Book Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
        ●   Pay and provide consent for events and school fees

Please keep in mind that your school may not be using all of the modules indicated in this article,
and your school may not have turned on access to parents to all functions within the portal.

Accessing Compass
Compass is a web-based system that is accessible on any modern web browser (Internet Explorer,
FIrefox, Chrome, Safari) or by using the Compass iOS or Android apps. Search for 'Compass
School Manager' in the store.

Every family receives a separate login to Compass, which will be provided to you by the school. If
you are having trouble finding the Compass link for your school you can go to
http://schools.compass.edu.au​ where you can search for and find our school's direct URL.

Logging in to Compass
To log in you will require your unique family username and password. These details will be provided
to you by the school.

Upon first login, you will be required to change your password and confirm your email address and
mobile phone number. These details may be used by the school for SMS, password recovery and
email communication throughout the year.

If you have lost your details or forgotten your password, you can recover your details by clicking the
'Can't access your account?' link on the front page.

Homepage
The home screen provides you with relevant alerts and news, as well as quick access to your child’s
profile.

Main Menu
Allows you to access other Compass and school resources. The options available here may vary
based on your school's use of Compass, more information on these icons is provided in the next
section.

Tools
The Tools Menu (cog icon) allows you to update your contact details and change your password.

Alerts
Custom notifications for items that require your action or attention. These may include excursion
notifications, ordering options for school photos, absence notifications, surveys, student report
availability and more.

        ●   Outstanding absences or late arrivals that require a note or approval
        ●   Course Confirmations or payments that need processing
        ●   Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences that are available for booking
        ●   Excursions or Events that require consent and/or payment
        ●   School photos that are available for purchase
        ●   Semester Reports or Progress Reports that are available to download.

Your Child/ren
This section provides you with a quick summary of available options, and highlights a summary of
upcoming and overdue tasks. To access more information click on the relevant quick link or select
'Profile' to access details information about your child. Options here may include:

        ●   - Your child/ren's profile page
        ●   - Email functionality
        ●   - Attendance pages customised for your children, where notes/approvals can be entered
        ●   - Academic reports for your child
        ●   - Parent/Student/Teacher Conference bookings
        ●   - Any overdue Learning Tasks that your student has not yet submitted.

News
Recent school news items and information relevant to parents. This may include newsletters, details
of upcoming events and much more.

Menus and Functions
Along the top of the screen there are various icons, and from these icons you can navigate through
the Compass portal.

The Home icon will take you back to the Home page.

The Calendar icon will take you to the school calendar, where you will be able to see the schedules
of your students, as well as any school events or activities that have been entered to the calendar.

The Pencil icon will bring up the Teaching and Learning menu, from which you can access Learning
Tasks and School Resources.

The Grid icon will bring up the Organisation menu, from which you can access Events, Course
Confirmations/Payments, and the Job System.

The Two People icon will bring up the Community menu, from which you can access
Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences, School Photos, and School Documentation.

The Star icon will bring up the Favourites menu, where any websites that the school has added will
be linked.

To the right of the screen, your name will display, with the Cog icon, which will bring up the Tools
menu, from which you can access your Payments, your Files, reset your password, update your
contact details, and log out.

Clicking on your name will take you to your profile page.

School Calendar
From the School Calendar you can view details of upcoming events, your child's timetable, and
other relevant school-wide activities your school has included on the calendar, such as School
Council Meetings, School Community events, Exams, Student Leadership events/meetings and
more.

Teaching and Learning
Learning Tasks
This is where you can view an up-to-date record of your child’s homework and upcoming
assessment tasks. If you have multiple children at the school, this will be a consolidated list
showing information for all children.

School Resources
A repository of relevant documents, websites, or other information required for homework or
class work.

Organisation
Events
Displays any events that your child/ren are attendees for, for example. sports events or
excursions.

How to Consent/Pay for an Event
You will receive a notification on your Compass homepage when there is an event that requires
your approval or payment. To provide the consent/payment required, click the notification. This will
take you to the Events page, where you can see all events that require your consent/payment, and
those that are upcoming that you have already consented to/paid for.

From this page you can pay and consent for any events, or complete the process offline by
printing the consent form and handing it in to the school. By clicking the "Process Now (Online)"
option, you will be prompted to enter information regarding emergency contact details as well as
any updated medical information that is not already on the student's file.

Please keep in mind that within Compass you cannot consent for an event that has a payment
associated with it without also paying for the event. If you need to pay in person at the school you
should print out the paper consent form and turn it in with payment to the school.

 Course Confirmation/Payments
 The Course Confirmation/Payments module allows you to pay your school fees through
 Compass.

 Job System
 The Job System page will display any assets allocated to your student by the school, such as
 laptops or other devices.

Community
Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences
Allows you to book any meetings which are available for booking.

By selecting a child, you can then view the teachers you can book in with, and select a time slot
from the drop-down menu.

Photos
The Photos page allows you to view school photos and view albums available for school
community viewing. Here you can also view your Photos purchase history, and contact
CompassPhotos.

School Favourites
This is where you can access links that the school has determined are useful for parents These
links are entirely set by your school so will not appear

Parent Profile
Clicking on your own name at the top right of Compass will take you to your own profile. This
page includes information such as the email address stored on Compass, links to your students’
profiles. Learning tasks, Insights, Payments and Conferences can also be accessed from the
Parent Profile.

Tools

  ●   My Files - Allows you to store files.
  ●   My Payments - Allows you to view any payments that have been made to the school
      through Compass.
  ●   Order CompassIdentity Card - Allows you to order a new CompassIdentity card. Here
      you can also see the status of cards ordered.
  ●   ​Change My Password - Allows you to change your password.
  ●   Update My Details - Allows you to update the mobile phone number(s) and email
      address(es) associated with your account.

Adding a Note or Approval
If your child has any unapproved absences or late arrivals, you will receive an alert on your
Compass home page letting you know this, and allowing you to add a Note or Approval.

Clicking on this notification will take you to the Unexplained tab for that child's attendance, where
you can choose to add a Note or Approval for one or more absences. To add a note or approval,
select one or more of the absences listed, then select the 'Explain with Note/Approval' button.

Please note that you cannot edit you notes or approvals after they've been created. If you do
need to make any amendments please contact your school, as they can do this for you.

Adding a Note/Approval for a Future Absence
You can also enter notes and approvals in advance, if you know that your child is going to be
absent from school (e.g. scheduled family holiday).

To do this from your homepage, click on the 'Add Attendance Note/Approval' link listed
underneath the name of the relevant student.

This will take you to the Attendance screen, with a pop-up window to enter details of the note or
approval. Here you can select the applicable date range - in the future if required.

Emailing Staff
Within Compass, if your school has the function activated, you can email the teachers of your
children at the school, as well as any other staff members.

From your Compass homepage one of the links underneath your child's name will be an option to
email their teachers.

Clicking this link will open the email pop-up window, with all of the teachers for the student listed
as recipients. You can select the red cross next to each recipient to remove them from the email,
or click the 'Add Recipients' button at the top to add any other staff members.